This time, Ernie Els could enjoy someone else’s final-round misfortune.
Ending nearly a four-year drought between PGA Tour victories, Els shot a 3-under 67 Sunday to win The Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. He finished at 6 under, one shot better than Luke Donald (71) and two ahead of Nathan Green (67).
“It’s been a long time coming,” Els said.
Els and Mark Calcavecchia were tied for the lead as the sun began setting on PGA National. But Calcavecchia hit into a greenside bunker at the par-3 15th, and his shot from the sand looked fine when it hit the green.
Somehow, it never stopped rolling.
“I certainly never dreamed it would run into the water,” Calcavecchia said. “It just didn’t grab and just kept rolling and rolling and rolling. And that was it.”
The ball came to rest on a rock ledge across the green. Calcavecchia walked over, tossed the ball into the water and made a double bogey to give Els the outright lead. Els made a cool par on the par-5 finishing hole, then waited to see if anyone would match his score.
No one did, although Donald had a chance on the last. His birdie chip from just off the green stopped a couple feet shy of the cup, sealing Els’ win.
“To win over here, it’s been really my goal,” Els said. “So it’s a great feeling.”
And with that, Els got the huge shot of confidence that he’s sought for so long, along with his first PGA Tour win since the 2004 American Express Championship in Ireland. Plus, he’ll jump a spot to third in the world rankings, passing Steve Stricker.
“I really played pretty well today,” Els said.
Calcavecchia (73), Robert Allenby (70) and Matt Jones (73) tied for fourth, three shots back.

Ochoa dominates

Lorena Ochoa left Annika Sorenstam and everyone else behind in the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore, then was at a loss for words to explain the blowout victory.
“Sometimes there is just no explanation,” Ochoa said after beating Sorenstam by 11 strokes in her first start of the season. “It just happens and it was a great win for me. Everything came together at the right place.”
Competing for the first time since winning the ADT Championship in November for her eighth 2007 victory, Ochoa finished at 20-under 268 on Tanah Merah’s Garden Course. The top-ranked Mexican star earned $300,000 for her 18th career LPGA Tour victory.

Brown wins in India

 New Zealander Mark Brown’s decision to return to golf after temporary retirement paid off again with a three-stroke victory in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Gurgaon, India, his second straight win in India.
Brown closed with a 5-under 67 to finish at 18-under 270. Last week, he won the Asian Tour’s SAIL Open. Australians Scott Strange (67) and Greg Chalmers (68) and Japan’s Taichiro Kiyota (71) tied for second. 
 

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